This application is based upon, and claims the benefit of priority of, prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2001-19030, filed on Jun. 22, 2001, and No. 2001-384827, filed Dec. 18, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ventilation controlling apparatus for opening and closing air passages with a slide door made of a flexible film member, and to an automotive air-conditioning system using the ventilation controlling apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional ventilation controlling apparatuses for switching air passages by movement of film members have been disclosed, as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei. 8-2238. A typical ventilation controlling apparatus in the prior art has a construction in which both ends of the film member are severally joined to a driving shaft and to a driven shaft for winding purposes. Accordingly, the driving shaft and the driven shaft need to interlock. For this reason, such a ventilation controlling apparatus requires an interlocking mechanism including pulleys, wires and the like, causing the entire apparatus to involve numerous component items and a complicated assembly. As a result, the conventional ventilation controlling apparatuses incur cost increases.
In consideration thereof, the applicant of the present invention has already proposed a ventilation controlling apparatus with a simplified construction in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-275306, in which a mechanism for winding a film member is curtailed. In this prior application, guide portions are provided inside a casing which forms air passages. The guide portions guide both ends in a width direction of the film member (corresponding to a slide door in the present invention), and a driving gear of a driving shaft is engaged with the film member.
Accordingly, the film member reciprocates along the guide members by rotation of the driving shaft, whereby the air passages of the casing are opened or closed by means of motion of the film member. To be more precise, an air-circulation aperture is provided on the film member and motion of the film member varies an area of connection between the aperture and the air passages on the casing and thereby opens or closes the air passages.
However, when the technique of the prior application is embodied into test production, since the film member is provided with the air-circulation aperture, rigidity of the film member is degraded on a fringe of the aperture. As a result, the film member on the fringe of the aperture is deformed when controlling force is applied from the driving gear of the driving shaft. Therefore, it is difficult to thrust the film member smoothly forward.
In consideration of the foregoing problem, it is an object of the present invention to solve imperfect action of a ventilation controlling apparatus using a slide door made of a flexible film member, wherein such imperfect action is attributable to degradation of rigidity of the film member on the fringe of an aperture.
To achieve the object, a first aspect of the present invention is a ventilation controlling apparatus including: a casing for forming an air passage; a slide door movably disposed inside the casing, the slide door being composed of a flexible film member provided with an air-circulation aperture thereon; and rigidity increasing means for increasing rigidity of a fringe of the aperture on the film member. Here, ventilation of the air passage is controlled by varying an area of connection between the aperture and the air passage in accordance with movement of the slide door.
In this way, even if the film member of the slide door includes the aperture, it is possible to increase rigidity of the aperture fringe on the film member. Therefore, upon application of a driving force in a thrusting direction toward the film member, it is possible to thrust the film member in the thrusting direction by the driving force. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably move the slide door with a simple door operation mechanism without requiring a winder mechanism for the film member.
A second aspect of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the first aspect, in which the rigidity increasing means and the film member are separately formed.
A third aspect of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the second aspect, in which the separate rigidity increasing means is a support member having higher rigidity than the film member. Here, the support member is formed into a frame shape to effectuate air circulation through the aperture on the film member. Moreover, the support member is fitted to the aperture fringe of the film member so as to move integrally with the film member. In this way, it is possible to increase rigidity of the aperture fringe of the film member by use of the frame-shaped support member.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the second aspect, in which the separate rigidity increasing means is a reinforcing film member provided with an aperture connected to the aperture provided on the film member, and the reinforcing film member is adhered to the aperture fringe of the film member. In this way, it is possible to construct the rigidity increasing means as a thin integral structure with the film member, in contrast to the third aspect.
A fifth embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the first embodiment, in which the rigidity increasing means adopts construction as a reinforcing portion integrally formed on the aperture fringe of the film member to increase a thickness of the aperture fringe thicker than other portions of the film member without provision of the air-circulation aperture. In this way, the rigidity increasing means can be easily formed on the film member by integrally molding.
A sixth embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to any one of the first to the fourth embodiments, in which the aperture fringe is located in a central position in a moving direction xe2x80x98axe2x80x99 of the film member, and film portions, without the air-circulation aperture, are located at both front and back sides in the moving direction xe2x80x98axe2x80x99 with respect to the aperture fringe. In this way, the air passage can be controlled by a combination of the aperture on the film member in the central position in the moving direction and the film portions on both sides in the moving direction. Accordingly, it is possible to broaden objects of controllable air passages.
A seventh embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to any one of the first to the sixth embodiments, in which a controlling force from the driving means is transferred to the film member via a region of the rigidity increasing means to move the film member. In this way, it is possible to transfer the controlling force from the driving means to the film member via a highly rigid undeformable portion (the region of the rigidity increasing means).
An eighth embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to any one of the first to the seventh embodiments, in which the rigidity increasing means is disposed on the film member at an upwind side. Hence, the ventilation controlling apparatus is advantageous because the rigidity increasing means does not interfere with a sealing action when the film member at a downwind side and a sealing surface of the casing collectively exerts such a sealing action.
A ninth embodiment of the present invention is a ventilation controlling apparatus including: a casing for forming an air passage; and a slide door movably disposed inside the casing. Here, the slide door includes a frame-shaped rigid support member provided with an air-circulatable aperture, and a film member joined to an edge in a moving direction of the support member. Moreover, the support member is moved integrally with the film member by applying a door-controlling force to the support member.
In this way, it is possible to move the film member by applying the door-controlling force to the frame-shaped rigid support member provided with the air-circulatable aperture. Therefore, an air-circulation aperture is not required on the film member, thereby solving a problem of deformation of the film member at an aperture fringe. Accordingly, it is possible to smoothly thrust the film member and thereby reliably operate the slide door.
In addition, according to the ninth embodiment, the air-circulation aperture need not be provided on the film member as described above. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate wastes derived from die cutting in forming an aperture, to thereby reduce material costs for the film member.
Meanwhile, upon forming the air-circulation aperture on the film member, some width is provided for a slender zonal portion around the aperture in order to secure its strength. Consequently, an apertural area of the air-circulation aperture is narrowed and ventilation resistance is thereby increased. However, according to the ninth embodiment, the air-circulation aperture is formed on the frame-shaped rigid support member, and the frame-shaped support member has much greater strength than the film member. Therefore, it is possible to increase the apertural area of the air-circulation aperture on the support member considerably more than merely providing the aperture on the film member. This effectively decreases the ventilation resistance.
A tenth embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the ninth embodiment, in which the film members are joined to both front and back ends in a moving direction of the support member.
An eleventh embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to the tenth embodiment, in which the both film members have an identical shape. In this way, it is possible to avoid erroneous fitting of the film members such as back-to-front installations.
A twelfth embodiment of the present invention is the ventilation controlling apparatus according to any one of the ninth to the eleventh embodiments, in which the support member includes a retention pin, the film member includes a retention hole to be retained on the retention pin, and the film member is joined to the support member by retaining the retention pin on the retention hole.
In this way, it is possible to reliably join the film member to the support member with a mechanical retention structure composed of the retention pin and the retention hole, thereby preventing the film member from detaching.
A thirteenth embodiment of the present invention is an automotive air-conditioning system including a heater core for heating air to flow into a passenger compartment, a bypass passage for allowing the air to bypass the heater core, and an air-mix door for adjusting proportions between a volume of the air passing through the heater core and a volume of the air passing through the bypass passage. Here, the air-mix door is composed of the slide door according to any one of the first to the twelfth embodiments. In this way, the automotive air-conditioning system of the air mixing type enables cool air and warm air to pass adjacently through the aperture of the air-mix door as will be described later with reference to FIG. 5B. Hence, the automotive air-conditioning system can improve performance for mixing the cool air and the warm air as compared to another example to be described with reference to FIG. 5A, thereby reducing unevenness of the air temperature flowing into the passenger compartment.
A fourteenth embodiment of the present invention is an automotive air-conditioning system including a plurality of air outlet apertures to blow out temperature-conditioned air into multiple regions of a passenger compartment, and a blower mode selection door for opening and closing the plurality of air outlet apertures. Here, the blower mode selection door adopts the slide door according to any one of the first to the twelfth embodiments. In this way, the slide door according to the present invention can be embodied in the blower mode selection door for the automotive air-conditioning system as well.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.